Day 21 of 30 Day Challenge

I’ve been doing maternity photos for a while. They are some of my favorite portrait sessions. We Americans do some crazy things that end up making women feel “less than” when their bodies change over time. This is often amplified in pregnancy. For many women, there is a stigma to being “fat” when they’re bringing life into the world. Being able to make photos during this phase of their life, is a special honor. I appreciate the trust I’m given to make beautiful photos.

I haven’t been sharing a lot of this work because… reasons. I’m not sure about doing retail photography after leaving retail sales 20+ years ago. My style of photos is also different from many other photographers. I tend to prefer minimal make up, minimal ‘posing’ and trying to get to the real person underneath.

If I’m honest, there’s a little impostor syndrome and a little anxiety about sharing my work too.

Any ways…. here are some maternity photos I’ve done for friends and family over the last several years. You’ll see more color in them than my earlier notes would make you expect. Usually, it’s because there is something special happening with the light or the outfits. You’ll see some dads in the photos below. I’ve also done shoots with the siblings and other family members to be part of the special time. I do them assuming that in 10 or 20 years, family will look back on the happy time before the new baby.

Day 20 of 30 day challenge

I like to shoot live events and see what develops! (see what I did there?) The lovely and very talented Kaley Hill (You might know her from her appearances on the Voice!) came to the House of Coffi this summer for a little outdoor show. She and her band were very interactive with the small but enthusiastic crowd. Kayley say’s Dolly Parton is one of her big influences. You can tell that in her interactions while performing and while on break too! One little girl seemed really enamored with Kaley. During an intermission, the star struck child got to have a picture done with Kaley. Kaley’s enthusiasm for her fan almost matched the fan’s enthusiasm for her. That told me a lot about Kaley. Something I thought worth catching and sharing.

When I shot weddings, I enjoyed catching the interactions between the family members and the wedding party way more than the more formal photos that I tried to get through as quickly as possible. For weddings, it’s important to be thinking two steps ahead and think about where the emotion is going to come out, and be in the right spot for that. That training and experience showed me that the good stuff happens in the breaks… When I saw the girl, and heard the break was coming, I just kind of hung off and waited to see what would happen. Sometimes it’s nothing, but many times, it’s gold. And the best shot of the day!